by JP Pelzman
WASHINGTON – Entering the Capital One Arena court for pregame warmups Saturday night, Myles Powell wore the “I got this” look of a man on a mission.
Almost three hours later, after that attitude had produced 35 points but no victory, Powell suddenly had the gaze of someone who had just experienced a nightmare. Seton Hall’s 77-71 overtime loss to physical but careless and erratic Georgetown was its third straight defeat, and has cast serious doubt on whether this team can rally and reclaim what seemed to be a certain NCAA bid merely two weeks ago.
For those watching around the country on CBS Sports Network, the game itself was a public service on the part of the Pirates, affording people who don’t normally watch them a chance to see their 2018-19 season in miniature. The Hall (16-12, 7-9 Big East) started quickly, buoyed by some overachieving on the part of individuals, most notably Jared Rhoden on this night.
But by the end of the second overtime, the limitations of a roster originally picked for eighth in the league by the coaches began to surface, as Georgetown’s Jessie Govan dominated inside late and nobody on the Pirates not named Powell could come up with enough of a response on the offensive end. And even more damning, nobody could provide steady, turnover-free ballhandling.
“This one just hurts right now,” said Powell, his eyes slightly reddened as he spoke to reporters outside the locker room, while his equally stunned and saddened teammates slowly walked to the bus. “It’s heartbreak.”
Long before heartbreak, desperation was Seton Hall’s mindset, and that included coach Kevin Willard, who made good on his promise following the loss to St. John’s a week earlier. Willard had announced his intentions to shake up his starting five, and he did so. Center Romaro Gill started in place of Mike Nzei, and former walk-on Shavar Reynolds got the nod at point guard in place of the recently turnover-prone Quincy McKnight.
And while that lineup helped a lot on the defensive end, especially with Gill frustrating Govan into a woeful first half, Gill and Reynolds combined for 1-for-7 shooting and two points in 38-plus minutes. With The Hall effectively playing 3-on-5 on offense when those two were in the game, it’s not surprising the Pirates led only 28-24 at halftime despite limiting the Hoyas (18-11, 8-8) to 30.3 percent shooting before intermission.
And worse yet, McKnight never quite got untracked, finishing 1-for-7 from the field with three points, five assists and four turnovers. Two of those turnovers were especially costly, coming late in regulation.
With Seton Hall nursing a 55-53 lead, McKnight had his pocket picked by James Akinjo, the Georgetown freshman who has engaged in a trash-talking battle with McKnight in both meetings this season. Powell wisely fouled Akinjo from behind without picking up a flagrant, but even with the pressure of a one-and-one opportunity, Akinjo made both to tie the score.
And with the score tied at 57 inside of two minutes to go in regulation, Akinjo again stole the ball from McKnight and his missed fast-break layup led to a follow-up dunk by Josh LeBlanc for a 59-57 Hoya lead.
“We had our opportunities,” Willard said. “You’re going to turn the ball over. They had 15 (turnovers). We had 19.”
The difference was the Hoyas cashed in 20 points off turnovers, The Hall merely eight.
But Georgetown couldn’t put the Pirates away and Mike Nzei scored on a short jumper with 23 seconds left in regulation to tie the score. Powell, the obvious focal point of the Hoyas’ defense in that situation, beat the double-team by passing to a pick-and-rolling Nzei. In essence, it was the same play, except inbounded from a different spot on the court, that Willard had called down two against Butler four weeks earlier. That time, Nzei slipped and Powell put up a contested three that missed.
This time however it worked, and got The Hall to overtime once Govan missed a contested two seconds later. The Pirates forced a second OT when again Powell gave up the ball rather than jacking up a hurried trey. Rhoden, who had a season-high nine points and was quite active on defense, drove for a contested layup and the score was tied at 66.
“I believe in my teammates just like they believe in me,” Powell said. “I kicked it to him and he made the right play.”
But, much like they have during their current three-game slide, the Pirates couldn’t sustain the momentum. With Nzei having fouled out before Rhoden’s game-tying shot, the Pirates were vulnerable in the middle in the second overtime.
(Nzei had fouled out in a bizarre sequence when, down one with the Hoyas inbounding, Seton Hall received a gift when Greg Malinowski threw the ball away. But for some reason, Powell wasn’t in the game and McKnight missed a shot in the lane. Nzei fouled Govan to stop the clock.)
Gill remained on the bench as Sandro Mamukelashvili gamely tried to defend Govan, but he couldn’t do it. Govan (21 points) had all of Georgetown’s points in the second OT.
Rhoden’s performance in that OT mirrored that of The Hall this season. After playing so well, and helping to force both OT sessions, he struggled. With the score tied at 71, he bricked two foul shots after being hacked while grabbing a defensive rebound. The Pirates didn’t score after that, and their offensive woes included Rhoden botching a perfect pass from Powell with 12 seconds to go. The almost-certain layup he could have had would’ve cut the deficit to 75-73 and given Seton Hall some life. Instead, he fumbled it out of bounds.
So have the Pirates fumbled away their last chance at the NCAAs?
Not yet, but they need some wins immediately. They will host Marquette (12-4 in conference) on Wednesday and Villanova (13-4) on Saturday. Marquette is coming off an upset loss to Creighton, a defeat which, oddly enough, improved The Hall’s resume given that it already swept the Bluejays.
“We’ve still got two Top 25 teams coming to our house,” Powell said. “We know with Senior Night coming, the fans are going to come out to support Mike. We’ll come out and battle (this week) like we did today.”
An uphill battle, to be sure. We’ll see if the Pirates can make the climb, and if they can give Powell more help in the scoring column.
COMMENTS?
https://setonhall.rivals.com/
WASHINGTON – Entering the Capital One Arena court for pregame warmups Saturday night, Myles Powell wore the “I got this” look of a man on a mission.
Almost three hours later, after that attitude had produced 35 points but no victory, Powell suddenly had the gaze of someone who had just experienced a nightmare. Seton Hall’s 77-71 overtime loss to physical but careless and erratic Georgetown was its third straight defeat, and has cast serious doubt on whether this team can rally and reclaim what seemed to be a certain NCAA bid merely two weeks ago.
For those watching around the country on CBS Sports Network, the game itself was a public service on the part of the Pirates, affording people who don’t normally watch them a chance to see their 2018-19 season in miniature. The Hall (16-12, 7-9 Big East) started quickly, buoyed by some overachieving on the part of individuals, most notably Jared Rhoden on this night.
But by the end of the second overtime, the limitations of a roster originally picked for eighth in the league by the coaches began to surface, as Georgetown’s Jessie Govan dominated inside late and nobody on the Pirates not named Powell could come up with enough of a response on the offensive end. And even more damning, nobody could provide steady, turnover-free ballhandling.
“This one just hurts right now,” said Powell, his eyes slightly reddened as he spoke to reporters outside the locker room, while his equally stunned and saddened teammates slowly walked to the bus. “It’s heartbreak.”
Long before heartbreak, desperation was Seton Hall’s mindset, and that included coach Kevin Willard, who made good on his promise following the loss to St. John’s a week earlier. Willard had announced his intentions to shake up his starting five, and he did so. Center Romaro Gill started in place of Mike Nzei, and former walk-on Shavar Reynolds got the nod at point guard in place of the recently turnover-prone Quincy McKnight.
And while that lineup helped a lot on the defensive end, especially with Gill frustrating Govan into a woeful first half, Gill and Reynolds combined for 1-for-7 shooting and two points in 38-plus minutes. With The Hall effectively playing 3-on-5 on offense when those two were in the game, it’s not surprising the Pirates led only 28-24 at halftime despite limiting the Hoyas (18-11, 8-8) to 30.3 percent shooting before intermission.
And worse yet, McKnight never quite got untracked, finishing 1-for-7 from the field with three points, five assists and four turnovers. Two of those turnovers were especially costly, coming late in regulation.
With Seton Hall nursing a 55-53 lead, McKnight had his pocket picked by James Akinjo, the Georgetown freshman who has engaged in a trash-talking battle with McKnight in both meetings this season. Powell wisely fouled Akinjo from behind without picking up a flagrant, but even with the pressure of a one-and-one opportunity, Akinjo made both to tie the score.
And with the score tied at 57 inside of two minutes to go in regulation, Akinjo again stole the ball from McKnight and his missed fast-break layup led to a follow-up dunk by Josh LeBlanc for a 59-57 Hoya lead.
“We had our opportunities,” Willard said. “You’re going to turn the ball over. They had 15 (turnovers). We had 19.”
The difference was the Hoyas cashed in 20 points off turnovers, The Hall merely eight.
But Georgetown couldn’t put the Pirates away and Mike Nzei scored on a short jumper with 23 seconds left in regulation to tie the score. Powell, the obvious focal point of the Hoyas’ defense in that situation, beat the double-team by passing to a pick-and-rolling Nzei. In essence, it was the same play, except inbounded from a different spot on the court, that Willard had called down two against Butler four weeks earlier. That time, Nzei slipped and Powell put up a contested three that missed.
This time however it worked, and got The Hall to overtime once Govan missed a contested two seconds later. The Pirates forced a second OT when again Powell gave up the ball rather than jacking up a hurried trey. Rhoden, who had a season-high nine points and was quite active on defense, drove for a contested layup and the score was tied at 66.
“I believe in my teammates just like they believe in me,” Powell said. “I kicked it to him and he made the right play.”
But, much like they have during their current three-game slide, the Pirates couldn’t sustain the momentum. With Nzei having fouled out before Rhoden’s game-tying shot, the Pirates were vulnerable in the middle in the second overtime.
(Nzei had fouled out in a bizarre sequence when, down one with the Hoyas inbounding, Seton Hall received a gift when Greg Malinowski threw the ball away. But for some reason, Powell wasn’t in the game and McKnight missed a shot in the lane. Nzei fouled Govan to stop the clock.)
Gill remained on the bench as Sandro Mamukelashvili gamely tried to defend Govan, but he couldn’t do it. Govan (21 points) had all of Georgetown’s points in the second OT.
Rhoden’s performance in that OT mirrored that of The Hall this season. After playing so well, and helping to force both OT sessions, he struggled. With the score tied at 71, he bricked two foul shots after being hacked while grabbing a defensive rebound. The Pirates didn’t score after that, and their offensive woes included Rhoden botching a perfect pass from Powell with 12 seconds to go. The almost-certain layup he could have had would’ve cut the deficit to 75-73 and given Seton Hall some life. Instead, he fumbled it out of bounds.
So have the Pirates fumbled away their last chance at the NCAAs?
Not yet, but they need some wins immediately. They will host Marquette (12-4 in conference) on Wednesday and Villanova (13-4) on Saturday. Marquette is coming off an upset loss to Creighton, a defeat which, oddly enough, improved The Hall’s resume given that it already swept the Bluejays.
“We’ve still got two Top 25 teams coming to our house,” Powell said. “We know with Senior Night coming, the fans are going to come out to support Mike. We’ll come out and battle (this week) like we did today.”
An uphill battle, to be sure. We’ll see if the Pirates can make the climb, and if they can give Powell more help in the scoring column.
COMMENTS?
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